Businesses have adopted Information Technology (IT) for automation from the early ages of computing. Starting with information storage, enterprises have adopted data processing, decision support systems, and automation packages like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Internet-delivered services. This has helped in improving the efficiency of the business processes and contributed to faster cycle times. A business process is typically a set of activities performed to achieve certain business objectives. Most of such activities are automated based on various business rules.
A business rule refers to one or more business conditions along with corresponding actions to be taken upon satisfaction of such business conditions. Business rules are used by almost all the business enterprises to serve one or more purposes, such as automation of business processes. Implementing business rules in a software application allows business processes to be automated. Generally, business rules are present in both formatted and un-formatted text documents including requirement documents, business agreements, charter documents, feature descriptions, guide books, technical specifications, and other project documents. The business rules are typically identified from such text documents, analyzed and then utilized for various purposes including the automation of business processes.